Scalping--What Used to Be against the Law Is Now Just Good Business
Is the Ticket Biz Out of Line?
Consumers Find Many Events Hard to Come By, And Afford, in a Market Changed by Technology
By Paul Farhi
Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, November 9, 2007; Page A01
After attending Bruce Springsteen concerts for more than 20 years, Ron Collins is facing the music: He can no longer afford to see the Boss.
When several weeks ago Collins went looking for tickets for Springsteen's sold-out shows this Sunday and Monday at Verizon Center, online resellers were asking anywhere from $400 to more than $2,000 per seat. "We were prepared to suck it up and just pay the scalpers, but I can't justify these prices," says Collins, 58, a legal writer and scholar in the District.
. . . Fans who strike out on the initial sale of seats to popular shows have found themselves confronting heart-stopping prices on hundreds of reseller sites -- often only minutes after promoters have posted "sold out" signs. Markups of as much as 10 times the face value are not uncommon for popula…